Has Nevada's Black Book gone the way of the Godfather?

May 15, 2010

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Handout photo of Marshall Caifano, 90, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He is one of 36 men on the Nevada Gaming Control Board's List of Excluded Persons, also known as the "black book."

50 years ago

The original 11 entrants in Nevada's Black Book:1. Marshall Caifano: A high-ranking Chicago organized crime member suspected of committing numerous killings, later became the mob's Las Vegas enforcer2. Louis Tom Dragna: One-time acting boss of the Los Angeles mob who unsuccessfully challenged the legality of the Black Book. He is the only one of the original 11 who remains in the Black Book3. Carl James Civella: Mob boss in Kansas City, Mo., who was convicted of skimming and maintaining hidden interests in the Tropicana4. Nicholas Civella: Another Kansas City mob boss convicted in the Tropicana case5. Sam Giancana: Chicago mob boss, murdered gangland style, who was linked to the 1960 presidential election of John F. Kennedy and to a 1963 CIA plot to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro6. Murray Llewellyn Humphreys: An alleged lieutenant of Chicago mobster Al Capone. Humphreys worked for Giancana7. Joseph Sica: Los Angeles mobster involved in bookmaking, narcotics8. Michael Coppola: New York City mob enforcer who was involved in drug trafficking and later moved to Miami, Fla.9. John Louis Battaglia: A Los Angeles mob associate who was arrested with Dragna10. Robert L. Garcia: A mob associate who lived in Southern California11. Motel Grzebienacy: A mob associate who resided in Kansas City, Mo.Source: Las Vegas Sun

How does one get on the excluded list? "You get on the list my coming to our attention in the first place," said Jerry Markling, chief of enforcement for the Gaming Control Board. One the Gaming Control Board is aware of the potential inductee, regulators will check if the person has any prior felony convictions. "Generally speaking, that is going to be a gaming crime," Markling said. "It doesn't necessarily have to be a gaming crime, but that is who we target." If regulators decide to pursue an investigation and once the investigation is completed, the case will go before a public meeting of the board. The potential inductee and his attorney rarely attend the procedures, regulators said.One exception, however, was Francis Citro, who was reputedly linked to organized crime. For his 1986 black book hearing, Citro came dressed in a tuxedo. He told commissioners, "I've never been invited to join anything in my life, I just wanted to show the proper respect."

How does one get off the excluded list?The state has a petition process to get off the list. Three inductees, Ruby Kolod, Felix Alderisio and William Alderman, were put on then taken off the list in 1965, according to the Las Vegas Sun. But for the rest, history has shown that about the only way to get off the list is to die. Currently, regulators are taking Peter Jay Lenz off the list after he died from a heart attack in California. He was placed on the list in 2000 or illegal bookmaking activities.

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It's called the Black Book, and over the years, casinos used the iconic piece of Nevada gaming history to keep track of who was allowed in and who wasn't.

Those whose names appear in the book are among the most notorious and most dangerous threats to the state's No. 1 industry, people deemed so bad that they are officially banned from Nevada casinos.

But as the book marks its 50th anniversary this year, it is apparent that its focus, appearance and relevance has changed over time.

When the book was first published in 1960, it was a list of organized crime members who were barred from entering Nevada's casinos. It was a public relations tool, experts say, showing the federal government that Nevada was serious about keeping mobsters out of casinos.

But since the beginning of the 21st century, it has transformed into a club of high-tech slot cheats, although a few aging mobsters remain.

Ironically, a loophole in the 1967 regulations that defined Black Book enforcement and procedures allows those listed in the book to legally visit slots-only casinos.

While members of the Black Book club are barred from major properties on the Las Vegas Strip or resorts such as the Peppermill and Atlantis in Reno, they are free to enter and prey on the Model T in Winnemucca or Slot World in Carson City.

"It is not so much a loophole, but I think it probably needs to be modernized," Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said. "You have to keep in mind that the licensees themselves, regardless of their location, can exclude anyone they deem necessary."

Mob needs food, too

When the rules were set up in the 1960s, state regulators had no idea that slots-only casinos would proliferate throughout the state. Denying entrance into slot-only establishments in the 1960s -- defined as grocery stores, bars and gas stations -- was seen as too harsh, even for mobsters, racketeers and enforcers.

"The main thing was that you really could not deny somebody entrance into a grocery store to buy food," Neilander said.

The 1967 regulations on the Black Book were done in a practical manner for that era, said Bud Hicks, former chief counsel to the Gaming Control Board and Commission in the 1970s who is currently a partner at the McDonald Carano Wilson law firm in Reno.

"Back when the regulations were written, they didn't think of them as slots-only casinos," Hicks said. "They were either casinos, or they were bars and taverns with (gaming) licenses. They did not make the distinction back then as we do now. So it is just an historic anomaly."

The Gaming Control Board is considering a bill draft request for the 2011 Legislature to amend the regulations.

"It is probably something that is ripe for discussion in light of the trends these days," Neilander said.

Hicks agrees.

"The (regulations) probably need to be updated," Hicks said. "They have been using it in recent years to ban slot cheats. In the early days, it was for the mob guys, and no self-respecting mob guy would be caught dead in a restricted location,'' referring to bars and liquor stores with a limited number of slots.

"They wanted to go into the casinos," Hicks said.

One Reno gaming expert was surprised that regulations have not been adjusted to keep up with the slot-cheat emphasis of the Black Book.

"It is a loophole that no one has thought about," analyst Ken Adams said. "It would have just continued until something came up."

The quirk in the regulation has not been overlooked by regulators, Neilander said.

"It has been noticed before, but you have to keep in mind that the majority of the gaming activity that occurs are in the locations that are included (in the Black Book)," Neilander said. "There are a few larger slot locations, but most of the slot-only locations are convenience stores, and those are directly supervised by a live person who has only responsibility for seven machines."

Rick Murdock, an executive at the Eldorado and part-owner of the slots-only Bodines Casino in Carson City, said it is irrelevant that Black Book members are free to enter his slots-only establishment.

"If they come into Bodines, they may hit us," Murdock said. "But Black Book or no Black Book, most people go back to the scene of the crime, and we will catch you. Everything is so high-tech now, and with the surveillance, they are going to probably be caught.

"So call this a loophole, but we are still watching," Murdock said.

Not a book anymore

There is no longer a physical Black Book, filled with names of gaming's major offenders. And although the original book was black, later editions were either blue or silver, regulators said.

In 2010, Nevada's official "List of Excluded Persons" can be found on the Gaming Control Board's website. Printing the books, then distributing them to all the state's casinos, was deemed too expensive to continue.

The added security built into slots and the decline of the mob also has worn away much of the Black Book's relevance, some casino operators said.

"Just the data, it's good to have in your computer system, but I can't remember the last time anybody called me or talked to me about the Black Book," said Larry Woolf, gaming licensee at Grand Sierra Resort and Casino and the CEO of the Navegante group. "It seems like it is outdated. But obviously, you want the names so you can keep them out of your property if they come in or want credit or anything like that."

The most recent additions to the list are Michael McNeive and William Cushing. They were caught using a high-tech slot cheating scam that tricked machines into thinking $1 bills were $100 bills at Boulder Station, Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Cushing was inducted into the Black Book in 2008, while McNeive was added to the list in 2009.

Forty-nine people were placed on the exclusion list in its first 40 years. Since 2000, only eight names have been added, six specifically for slot cheating.

Only one of the original 11 members, 89-year-old Louis Dragna, remains on the list. Dragna was a reputed mob boss from Los Angeles.

Two members of the club -- Doug Barr Jr. and John Mealey -- have Sparks listed as their last known address. Another, Tim Childs, is listed with a last-known Reno address. Barr, part of a father-son team on the list, was the youngest person ever named to the list, being 31 when he was tagged in 1990.

Organized crime out of gaming

"It is much more difficult for organized crime to become involved in gaming now," said Jerry Markling, chief of enforcement for the Gaming Control Board and Commission. "So we have moved away from that and into the area where we see more people having a greater effect through cheating on gaming."

Woolf cited increased difficulty to cheat modern slots as a reason why the listings have diminished.

"The slot machines are a lot harder to cheat now," Woolf said. "They have a lot more security systems and surveillance systems attached.

"But I can't remember the last time I saw any reference of somebody being put in there," Woolf said of the Black Book. "Maybe the industry is just doing better securing itself, at least in the slot machines, anyway."

Markling believes the Black Book is still important.

"We use it as a tool, and it is one of the many tools that we have available to us," Markling said.

While it is no longer loaded with famous mobsters, others agree it still has its place in regulating Nevada's top industry.

"The question is, is it obsolete or not?" said Bill Eadington, the director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno. "Do we still have the threat of these people who could do damage to the integrity and reputation of the industry? Well, that threat is always there. But it is not the same as it was before."

It is no longer a list of Italian and Jewish mafia that characterized it in the mid-20th century."